Star Wars: Against All Odds
by Andrew J. Low
Summary: Four months after the events of Tides of War, Marv, Lowan, and friends are at it again. Fighting the Yuuzhan Vong however they can and striving to keep hope alive whilst ensuring the safety of trillions throughout the galaxy. Loyalties will be tested, challenges will be more numerous, and the stakes are so much higher. They must do their best to survive and win Against All Odds.
1. Chapter 1

STAR WARS

Against All Odds

By Andrew J. Low

This book is dedicated to Joe Cabatit (Marv), Jesse L. Holt (Zee), and Heath Barnes (Krieg). It was a long and arduous process, but a thrilling one nonetheless. Thank you all for your feedback, constant support, and creative inspiration. I hope you find the finished product as exciting as I do, and I sincerely hope it gets you jazzed for the eventual,cataclysmic conclusion, Birth of Legends. So happy reading, my friends. And as always, May the Force Be With You.

Dramatis Personae

Dwight "Marv" Hartigan; NRI Spec Ops team leader, former CorSec Detective, 26 yrs. (human male from Corellia)

Lowan Colaf; Jedi Master, former CorSec Special Adviser, 22 yrs. (human male from Corellia)

Zevan L'oht; Jedi Ace, 21 yrs. (human male from Coruscant)

Ens. Yuri Tagawa; pilot, New Republic Navy, 19 yrs. (human female from Abregado Rae)

Yumi Tagawa; Jedi padawan, 19 yrs. (human female from Abregado Rae)

Krieg Resoloy; Fallen Jedi, Prizefighter, Bounty Hunter, 21 yrs. (human male from Corulag)

Cmdr. Belynda Kariss; NRI Spec Ops field agent, 43 yrs. (human female from Bandomeer)

Dakk Shai; Yuuzhan Vong Commander (male Yuuzhan Vong)

 **Chapter 1.**

From the dawn of time, it has been prophesized…That two warriors would finally meet in the ultimate battle…These titans, they, the champion of the sacred light and his now fallen, former brother-in-arms would come together at last, to test one another in the white-hot fires of ritual combat…A duel to end all duels, a martial contest whose outcome would forever change the course of history, deciding the fate of the galaxy for eons hence. For this was a rivalry so heated, so fiercely felt by both combatants, that it could only end in annihilation, the cataclysmic triumph of one demigod over another. And this was a time for settling scores, when old grudges finally came to a head…One explosive conclusion, as if heralding a long-awaited end to an age of divine apocalypse…A day for swift, decisive actions and lasting, irrevocable results.

The tow-headed demon stood before me now. His cerulean eyes burned with an unnatural fury, a glimmer of the evil now simmering behind them. His face curled upward in a tight-lipped grin, an expression that though once harmless, even comforting, now dripped with inner malice and an obvious, predatory intent. He drew the burning sword from his hip, and I mine, neither of our gazes wavering for even a moment. So this was it then, yes? One last battle in the name of justice, democracy, freedom…to end this war once and for all? Then so be it.

With nary a hint of warning, my opponent launched his attack. I was ready for it, but just so. High slashes, feints, quick thrusts, a veritable wall of flame and fury was he. I deftly blocked them all on my sword of fire, before pushing him back with an onslaught all my own.

I struck high aiming for the demon's head, leaping into it to gain additional downward momentum. Rather than meet my attack though, the slippery devil merely sidestepped and riposted. Undeterred, I struck again, this time sending my blade into a wide, sweeping arc from the left. My opponent merely ducked beneath it and sprung forward with an upward slash that would be sure to cleave any man from hip to shoulder. Lucky for me, I was not just any man.

With a desperate backward leap, I cleared his burning blade by the smallest of measures. However, off-balanced as I became in doing so, I couldn't help but stumble, landing hard on my left flank. Quickly pressing this new advantage, he smoothly flipped his sword around and brought it down again in a vicious, two-handed stab.

I rolled backwards out of its path once more, and it sizzled on the ground where I had lain barely a moment previous. Hurriedly, I gathered my feet beneath me, but sadly, it was already too late. Before I could even begin to rise and answer my opponent's advance with a counterstrike, I felt his booted foot connect solidly under my chin.

It was a mighty blow indeed, easily strong enough to send me sprawling once again. Yet as my limp body soared aloft only to heartily meet the earth anew, I was vaguely aware of it as the smouldering blade slipped free from my weary grasp. And so, it had come to this. I was defeated.

Reluctantly, I lifted my gaze upward, looking upon my conqueror with a sort of grudging admiration and counting down the last few seconds of the bumbling and utterly squandered journey I have thus far called my life. He towered haughtily over my now prostrate form, stock still, with nary a shiver in this early winter morning chill. Yes, he merely stood. And yet, I could almost hear that silent, gloating chuckle of triumph rising from deep down in his gullet, only to catch itself in the back of his throat. The moment seemed to stretch on and on, torturing me with its agonizing inevitability. Strike, stang you! Strike now, hard and true. Seal this failed soul's fate. For now, and for all time!

"Zee, come on, man! Focus. It's like you're not even trying," said my best friend and worst critic in the whole galaxy, Lowan Colaf. But I guess it's 'Master Colaf' now, isn't it? Well, anyway. He fixed me with that intense, slightly disapproving stare of his and continued, "Or were you just wrapped up in another of your overly dramatic, Coruscanti action-adventure holos again?"

I winced, offering up a guilty shrug. "Sorry, man. I know I should stay more focused on the task at hand, but when the task is fighting the Yuuzhan Vong **without** going over to the dark side in the process, I dunno…I guess it's easier for me to stay a little detached, kinda take myself out of it for a bit. Y'know, pretend I'm somebody somewhere other than right here right now, so I can do my job before the weight of reality sets in and hits me like a slab of duracrete. Does that make any sense? Or am I just kidding myself?"

"No, Zee. It makes perfect sense. Just do me a favor, kay?"

"Sure, buddy. Name it."

"Drop the fantasy once in a while in case you're friends are in trouble out here in the generally accepted mental construct we call reality."

I chuckled at that. "You got it, my friend. 'Course, when does a Jedi Master like yourself ever find himself 'in trouble' anyway?"

"More times than we like to admit actually," he conceded with a sad sigh. Oh, man. It's rare I've seen him so vulnerable like this. He must really be feeling the pressure from the Jedi Council right now.

Makes sense, though. Being the youngest Master in the Order has gotta be tough. Add to that, he's got himself an apprentice whose only a few years younger than him, and not to mention a total hottie, and a girlfriend, who happens to be the fastest-rising holovid-star in the entire galaxy, whom he almost never sees. All the while we're in the middle of a galaxy-wide alien invasion that's NOT going well, and yeah, I can see how he'd be a little stressed out.

Lowan shook his head, lowering his eyes as he continued. "It's just hard sometimes, y'know, Zee? Like I'm trying my best to do everything at once, please everybody at the same time, and I...I just can't. Hard as I try, I just can't do it all. Teacher, defender, trophy boyfriend to the stars, I mean, there's a lot of stuff. And frankly, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold it all together. Look buddy, I'm sorry. We should get back to sparring practice," he finished, shying away in sudden embarrassment.

"No, no, man," I said quickly, "it's cool. We're best friends, remember? So hey, you need to get stuff out? No problem, I'm here for ya." I mean, yeah, I can probably guess what's eating him, but it'd still be better for him to say it himself.

He studied me for a second, debating whether or not to go on, I guessed. "You sure there, buddy?" he asked. I shrugged casually, my face saying something like, 'Yeah, man. Lay it on me.' He held that quizzical stare of his for another long moment. But then he broke, surrendering like all the others to my undisputed, goofy charm.

Chuckling half-heartedly to himself, Lowan continued, "You're a good friend, Zee. You know that, don't you? Anyway, I just…well, every time I…okay, stang it! I'll just come out and say it already! See, since I was made a Master which was what, almost six months ago now? I've been wondering time and time again if that was really such a good idea. Now, I'm not accusing the Council of bad judgement or calling out Master Skywalker as the village idiot or anything like that, but...I just wonder sometimes, y'know?

"I mean, by the Force, I'm barely twenty-two! And they just have a quick little ceremony and all of a sudden BAM! I'm the youngest Jedi Master in history?! I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility! I'm a good student, yeah, but what do I know about instructing younglings, let alone teaching an apprentice whose only three years my junior? I mean, really. How can I expect her to take anything I say seriously?"

"And so, what? You're sending Yumi back to the Academy?" I guessed aloud.

"Well yeah," he conceded, "I figure she's better off there than with me, at least for awhile, that is. She'll be amongst a bunch of other fellow students. And Kam and Tionne have a wealth of knowledge to share with her about the Force. Much more than I know about it, that's for sure."

Man, he's in worse shape than I thought. Which sucks 'cuz I'd like nothing more than to tell him, 'Hey, life's rough, pal. Grow up already and quit yer whining!' But I can't say that 'cuz he's been there for me over and over and over again. I dunno though. I mean, tough-love has its place, right? No! Y'know what? He's not ready for that, Zee. Lowan's your best friend, and right now, he needs your support more than anything. "Huh," I said finally, "you've been thinkin' about this a lot then."

Lowan nodded. "Sometimes it seems like that's all I do these days," he sighed.

"Yeah well, maybe it's good you taking a break like this. Y'know, giving yourself a chance to clear your head, sort things out."

"Yeah, especially with all the flack I've been getting from Aemm lately." I arched a brow, intrigued. He shrugged. "With her schedule all filled up with interviews, promotional tours, shooting schedules for her next holoflick, and the Force knows what else, she said she feels like I've been spending much more time with Yumi than her. She's jealous, I guess, though she shouldn't be. Yumi's my student, y'know, that's all."

"Oh yeah, I hear ya, man. Women, huh?" I responded, sadly unable to come up with anything more helpful. Truthfully though, and I hate to say it, but whenever I heard about Lowan's padawan, Yumi, I couldn't stop myself from dreaming about her beautiful and fascinating twin sister, Yuri. Oh, Yuri. You're everything I've ever wished for in a woman. Smart, sassy, fun, hot, and not to mention, one heck of a fighter pilot. 'Course she is kinda seeing that Marv guy right now, but-

"Zee! Come on now, I'm not trying to sell you 'fresher towels here. Where'd you go this time, huh?" Lowan was staring at me again, annoyed yes, but not exactly surprised either.

"Oh, I um, well uh…" Ahh, forget it! I hung my head in guilty shame. "Sorry, man. What were you saying again?"

My buddy rolled his eyes at me, but continued on anyway, "So yeah, I guess what I'm basically saying is that with all these expectations coming at me from different angles, they're really starting to pile up. And I guess I'm getting pretty overwhelmed by it all. You understand, buddy?"

Well, kinda. "Yeah, I get you, man. And I still think it sounds like you should take a load off for a bit, not worry about things so much. Y'know, take some time to get centered again, maybe reconnect with the inner Lowan," I said.

"Oh, really?" he asked semi-sarcastically, "and what prey-tell would the fun-doctor suggest? An all-night Sabacc marathon, perhaps?"

"Ohhhh no, pal! You cleaned me out the last seven times we played!"

"You've been getting better," he told me, finally cracking a lasting smile. "Alright, Zee. We'll think of something. Oh, and Zee? Thanks for listening."

I threw him a look of mock-offense. "Why Master Colaf, would you expect anything less from a friend?"

He shook his head at me again, trying his best not to bust out laughing. "So," he said in a decidedly more cheerful tone, "you ready to go again?"

"Aww hells, yeah! And this time, Lowan, you're going down!" I exclaimed, pressing the Separation Release on my saber and dramatically twirling my now twin, dagger-like blades.

"Uh-huh, sure," he responded, activating his lightsaber again and switching it to his own rapier-like Phase II Mode. Then he took a long, deep breath, and with the fire of determination alight in his bright, green eyes once more, my buddy brought his blade up and to the ready. Yeah, he'll be fine. He's like me, I guess. Got everything under control until you get a long moment to reflect and consequently, crack under the pressure. But hey, we **ARE** men of action, I suppose.

I was just about to hurl myself into a whirling, twisting frenzy of humming, glowing devastation when suddenly, the comlink on Lowan's belt sounded its pesky, little chirp. Almost as annoyed as I was, he returned his saber to his side and answered the call.

"Yeah, Lowan here," he said, politely turning and walking a few steps away from me. A voice crackled from the tiny speaker in response, but it was too low to make out from where I was standing. "Uh-huh, go on…Spy stuff, I get it. No problem." 'Spy stuff'? Who's he talking to? Lowan smiled. "It's okay, CorSec, really. Just tell me where and when." Huh? 'Where and when' what? Arrrgh, it's really aggravating only hearing one side of a conversation!

The buzzing voice replied with something short and concise. "Oh, going home now, are we?" Lowan asked. "You want me to bring Zee along for the ride?" Oh yeah, sure. I'd love to come, as soon as ya tell me where the kriff we're even goin! He chuckled to himself, oblivious to my ever-mounting frustration. "Yeah, as long as you're buying…Alright, man. See you soon."

Clicking off the comm, he turned and walked back over to me. With a silly grin smeared across his pretty face, he said, "That was Marv. Hey uh, do you wanna go to Corellia for a bit?"

Marv, humph, figured as much. "Yeah, sure," I said. "When?"

"Um, like, now-ish," he replied sheepishly.

"Gee, 'cuz that's not 'last minute' or anything."

He crossed his arms and glared at me semi-seriously. "Oh, like you're busy? Come on, pal. All you've been doing for the last two weeks is showing me around Coruscant constantly."

I shrugged, wincing with guilty shame. "Well yeah, there is that. Okay, I'm game. We need to bring anything? X-ray goggles, decoder rings, super-cool listening devices, that sorta stuff?" He raised an eyebrow at me like, 'Are you done now, Zee?' Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. "Alrighty!" I said with an over-abundance of cartoon-ey enthusiasm, "I'll go pack."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

 _Two Months Earlier._

 _Marv._

The wall chrono blared like a warning klaxon, instantly destroying the relative early morning calm in the bedchamber of Yuri's 132nd Floor hi-rise apartment. I mean, jeez. You'd think the durn thing was on a mission to announce to all of kriffin' Coruscant that it is 0500hrs CST, and once again time to start the day. Time to go for that early morning jog or maybe get the lil' kiddies ready for another day of Pre-Life Ed. But not you, Marv. No, you gotta go to work! But hey, it's a big day, right? I mean, not everybody gets to wake up at the freakin' crack of dawn and go sell their soul to New Republic Intelligence. 'Cuz really, talk about a privilege.

Blearily, I stumbled out of bed. Gotta turn that kriffin' alarm off before Yuri wakes up. She's a lucky girl, ain't she, Marv? Yeah, 'cuz pilots don't have to report until 0800! Ahh, but the kid deserves every minute, I guess. Weren't for her, we'd have never made it off of that blasted Vong worldship, much less escaped the kriffin' armada they had just waiting for us up in orbit.

It's funny, though, y'know? Pretty girl like her ending up with a mug like me. But it's been good so far. At least, it's been a lot better than any of my previous relationships at the six-weeks mark, which ain't saying much, believe you me. I mean, sure, we've had the usual new-couple spats and such, but nothing major, right? Then again, can we even call ourselves a couple? We sleep over at each other's place now and then, yeah. And we get along alright most of the time, don't we? But does that alone count for much? I mean, does it make us something special? Awww, no time to dwell on it now, old man.

But just look at her, will ya, Marv? That dark brown hair splayed out on her pillow, that small yet strong figure curled up just like a child's, those big, hazel eyes dancing dreamily behind lightly closed lids. Every bit of her, perfect. Every bit of her, beautiful. Now, hold on a second there. Kinda sounds like you're fallin' for her. Well, are you, old man? Are ya? Nah, no time for that now! Gotta shower, shave, and report.

The airtaxi dropped me off about forty-five minutes later in front of a huge but otherwise nondescript industrial building. Hey, Marv, almost fifteen minutes early. Not bad for your first day. Guess that time-honored CorSec sense of duty's still good for something, huh? It should even give you a little extra time figuring out that nifty lil' secret entrance procedure they told you about earlier. Alright, let's get crackin'. Pulling out the wrinkled piece of flimsiplast I scrawled it on the night before, I set to work. As nonchalantly as possible, of course. Don't think the agency'd take too kindly to you compromising their entire operation before you've even officially started working with them, now would they?

Three hidden combo-locks, retinal, voice, and thumb scans, the ol' thermal scan and frisk, and a 500m turbolift ride later, I arrived at the true entrance, the grand outer lobby of NRI Headquarters. I spotted a cute, but severe-looking blonde seated behind a large, transparisteel desk located in the center of the spacious, but sparsely decorated room. "Good morning, sir. How may I assist you?" she asked, all blue-eyed and perky-like.

Still a little iffy on all the in's and out's of Intelligence Protocol, I sauntered up and offered her a friendly lil' shake and a smile. "Howdy, gorgeous! Lt. Dwight Hartigan reporting for duty. But you can call me Marv."

She looked briefly at the hand hovering only centimeters from her face, made no move to shake it, and continued, smiling politely. "Lt. Hartigan, is it?" she asked me, taking an extra-long moment to look me up on her computer screen. "Oh, heeere we aaare. Okay, Lieutenant. Deputy Director Maistroff will see you now," she finished, glaring vibrodaggers at me and gesturing to the door behind her. Then she turned back to her screen and apparently, forgot I ever existed.

Nice, lady. Real classy. "Thanks," I muttered, crossing to the door. I turned back. "Oh yeah, uh how do I—"

"Down the hall, first left, third right, and fourth door from the far end," said the blonde, those baby-blue's never leaving her computer screen. Oookay, then. Guess I'll find it myself.

I almost thanked her again for her complete lack of help, but in the end just settled for an "Ahhh, fisk it!" under my breath. Easy, old man. Don't let her get to ya. She ain't even worth it. Besides, you don't have time for that prissy broad anyway. Gotta go find the Chief, the Head Guy, Mr. Big Stuff, or whatever.

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 _Two weeks ago._

 _Yumi._

"Ow! Stang it! Why can't you stay in one place for half a second? You stupid, freakin' machine!"

I rubbed my right arm in a useless attempt to soothe away the lasting sting of the training remote. It just hovered there patiently in front of me, mocking me with its round, simple plasteel construction. I stomped my booted foot into the oily, sticky ground below me and wiped my brow again with a sigh. Humph, stupid dirty, humid hangar bay. Can't Lowan let me train somewhere else? I'm getting dirt and sweat all over my clothes. I mean, I don't mind getting dirty now and then. I've been a professional pathfinder and interstellar navigator since I was fifteen standard years old. And hell, these pants are black anyway. But, I just bought this lilac halter, and it's gonna be ruined before I even get to wear it out anywhere. And for what, I ask you? For what?

Yuri tried to suppress another giggle, still leaning there up against the workbench behind me. "That's like, what, the fifth time that little guy's shocked you, sis? Come on, now. You've only been at this for, like twenty minutes. Man, are you even paying attention?" she taunted me, and I didn't even have to look back at the little witch to see that wry grin smeared all across her face.

"Shut it, Yuri! You're not helping," I replied over my left shoulder. "I'm just having a hard time getting started today. That's all." I brought up my lightsaber, eager to try again.

"I dunno," she continued playfully. "Sounds to me like ya got other things on your mind. Master Dreamy-Eyes, perhaps?"

"Yeah, not even!" I scoffed, trying to ignore her jabs and failing miserably. Signaling the remote to reset the training sequence, I braced myself for the next flurry of random, low-powered stun bolts. And after dodging or catching the first half dozen or so on my glowing amber blade, I started to feel more confident. Another eight or nine of them, and I started to get downright cocky. See? What does she know? This isn't that hard. I'm not having the slightest problem focusing- Aah! "Okay, yeah, alright? You happy now? But not like **that**!"

"Oh, really?" she asked in a mocking tone. "Then please, enlighten me if you will, Miss Tagawa."

By the Force, sometimes I could just kill my sister. No, she's just trying to get to me. I have to keep practicing. The more I do these exercises, the sooner I'll be able to- No! Y'know what? Fisk that! If she's gonna keep pestering me, then Yuri deserves a piece of my mind. Closing down my lightsaber and clipping it quickly to my belt, I whirled on the infuriating, little loudmouthed gossip queen that was my twin sister. "Alright! You wanna know what my deal is? Fine, I'll tell you. First off, I have my Master, who is only a few years older than me himself I might add, telling **me** that I'm an immature, little girl who knows next to nothing about being a Jedi-"

"Oh, come on, Yumi. I doubt Lowan ever said it quite like that. He-"

"I wasn't finished! On top of that, he has me doing these pointless, youngling exercises over and over again in this freakin' hangar bay while he's off skipping around all over Coruscant with his best friend playing tourist-"

"The medtechs did tell him to take it easy for a few months after the whole poison thing-"

"And then," I exclaimed, vaguely aware that my voice had now risen to a near shriek, "then he has the nerve to come and tell me he's sending me back to the Academy!"

"Listen, I think you're just blow- Wait, he's what?!" Yuri gasped, that smirk finally wiped clean off her pretty little face. And normally, I'd be super-psyched pulling the rug out from under her like that. But not now.

No, right now I was too tired, angry, sad, confused, and so many other things to even begin to think of being happy. "It's true," I sighed, wavering slightly over the words and turning away from her again. "He said…he said that with everything that's happened lately, Ithor, Kalarba, the stuff on that worldship thingy, that he…he doesn't feel that it would be the best idea to keep teaching me right now. So, he wants me to go back to Yavin for awhile and train with Kam and Tionne, like all the other Jedi babies," I finished hurriedly, fighting to hold back the tears now threatening to burst from my eyes at any second.

"Oh, Yumi," she cooed, pushing off from the bench and wrapping me up in a big, sisterly hug. I resisted at first, but soon gave up the fight, just collapsing into her and nuzzling into her shoulder. I felt safer almost instantly, oddly taking comfort in both the familiar sweet-balmy scent of her hair and skin products and the rough, semi-scratchy feel of her worn, grease-stained shiptech's jumpsuit. "It'll be okay, baby," she whispered.

"Yeah, but it's like he doesn't even want me around. Am I…am I that hard to put up with, sis?" I asked her, unable to hold off the waterworks any longer.

"Now girl, don't talk like that. It sounds like this is something **he** just has to figure out right now. I don't think it has even the smallest thing to do with **you** ," she said, patiently trying her best to console me.

"Yeah, but," I started to say again.

"Trust me on this one, okay? I am three and a half minutes older than you, y'know."

"Oh right, and that makes you **so** much more mature," came my sarcastic reply.

"Doesn't it?" she asked, once again in that playful, carefree tone, and I couldn't help but giggle just a little.

I pulled away finally, wiping my cheeks and sniffling. "Okay, sis. You're right, I guess. I'll be okay. I mean, hey, I've survived worse, right?"

Yuri grinned in warm satisfaction and rested her hands on her hips. "Yeah, 'cuz hello? Strangle-Bug?" she laughed.

"Right," I murmured, rubbing my throat in a not-so-pleasant memory.

"Oh yeah, sorry," winced my not-so-tactful twin. Wisely, she changed the subject. "So, uh, when do you leave?"

"Oh, about two weeks from now. There's a supply ship going out there about that time, and Lowan's arranging to have me tag along on it."

"What? Tag along? Is that boy serious? Un-huh. No way! Ain't no sister of mine gonna travel as extra cargo." She paused, beaming proudly. "I'll just have to take you out there myself is all."

I threw her a sidelong glare. "You sure about that, Yuri?" She nodded. "But don't you have to be on-call for shuttle missions thru the end of the month?"

The pilot threw up her hands and said, "Oh, now don't you worry about the details, missy. I'll just pull some strings. I can be very persuasive when I wanna be, remember?"

Half-smiling, I replied, "Yeah, you get that from yer good ol' smugglin' days. You lil' scoundrel, you. But, um, where're we gonna get a ship?" She stared at me in mock-offense. "I know, I know. 'Don't worry about the details.' But where? Call me curious."

Her hazel eyes sparkled with that oh-so-mischievous glint, and I just knew I was in for it now. "Weeellllll, it just so happens that the NRI recently promoted my boyfriend to Lieutenant, and you might recall them throwing in a lil' starship for saving those famous, Jedi kids. And it's not just any old hunk of space junk. This baby's a sweet, brand-spanking new YT-2400, although y'know, I dunno what it is about Corellians and their CEC light freighters, but they all seem to love 'em, don't they?"

I shrugged. "Meh, probably 'cuz they haven't flown any models from the smaller, yet infinitely-better Abregado Shipyards back home."

"Hmmm, you may be right, sis."

"Yeah," I said, "well that's all well and good, and you can quit drooling by the way. But Marv wouldn't let you borrow his new boat, would he? I mean, don't all men have some sort of Minimum Exclusive Playtime clause when it comes to their new toys?"

Yuri shrugged nonchalantly. Then arching her brow, she replied in a sultry, smoky voice, "I told you, Yumi." She paused to strike a 'sexy' pose. "I have my ways."

My sister, what a character. "Well, yeah, I suppose you would…Wait, what? No, I don't wanna know! Blech! Wrong, just…wrong!"

"Hehehehe…I'll spare you the details then, I guess."

"Durn right, you will! You promised!" Oh, why does she always have to do that? It's like she sees the line, and not only does she cross it. No, she dances around all over it. And proudly, at that! I mean, stang! Y'know?

In the half second it took me come back from my thoughts, and not to mention recover my stomach, she just waited there, giggling, arms crossed easily over her chest. I sighed again and shook my head. Every time it's the same. She sets me up, and I walk right into it. Sheesh.

Then suddenly, my sister straightened, instantly serious. "But rest assured, girl," she promised, looking me straight in the eye, "we'll get you there."

I nodded at her, still emotionally drained. But now, I was at least a little hopeful, too. "Okay, Yuri. Okay."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3.**

 _Last night._

 _NRI Headquarters training gym, 0235 hrs._

 _Marv._

Let me tell ya something: I hate starting new jobs. Sheesh, if I've learned anything in my almost twenty-seven standard years, it's that orientation periods kriffin' blow! For the last couple months, it's been nothing but 'procedure' this and 'confidential' that. I mean, stang! Coming into this I thought that being a spy would be a pretty sweet gig, or at least half as cool as rollin' with the CorSec elite. But nope, sorry, old man. Wrong answer!

I figured hey, with all my experience in criminal psychology, advanced law-enforcement tactics, and not to mention over seven years on the job, right in the thick of it day in and day out, I'd be doing Top Priority missions and whatnot from Day 1, right? Anh! Wrong again, pal! You have to complete training courses, sit thru lectures, check out on weapons, memorize policies, and jump thru every other bureaucratic hoop they can think of, and then **maybe** they'll throw an assignment or two your way. Maybe.

It just doesn't make any sense. I mean, who do these jokers think I am anyway? Some green, untested cadet whose never seen the outside of the kriffin' academy? Come on, people. I'm frickin' Marv! If you looked up 'badass' in the wordbase, you'd see a holo of my ugly mug staring right back at ya!

Uh-huh, that's right. Ask any of the no-good, blaster-smuggling, cargo-robbing, cold-blooded space-scum I've sent packing on a one-way ticket to the spice-mines of Kessel. Ask them who it is they fear the most when they're shaking in their dirty, lil' prison booties every night, and they'll tell ya. They'll tell you hands down, without a doubt, that nobody even comes close to the one, the only, Lt. Dwight 'Marv' Har- CRACK!

"Shouldn't let me catch you sleepin' like that, Marv," taunted Cmdr. Belynda Kariss, circling me like a gundark on the prowl. "Next time, I might actually hit you hard."

I rubbed my jaw, both to soothe away the throbbing ache and check for dislocation. Uh-huh, sure. No way she pulled that punch. Lady must have fists of durasteel. "Nah, it's cool. I've been trying out this new thing where I block with my face."

"Really?" she asked, arching a brow. "And how's that working out for you?"

"Well, not as well as I planned, Commander. But I'm still working out the kinks." I had to admit I've enjoyed these late-night sparring sessions with Cmdr. Kariss over the past few weeks, as painful as they've been sometimes. She was an expert in close-quarters combat, and I must say, extremely easy on the eyes.

At 1.8 meters, Kariss stood a handful of centimeters taller than me. And with her hard, grey-green eyes and lean, muscular build, she'd be an imposing figure for sure, if not for those subtle curves and her sly, disarming smile. She wore her dirty-blonde hair semi-short, parted to one side and hanging just below her brow. It was a style that normally would look man-ish and severe, but on her it looked kinda spunky, like a tomboy but hotter.

If you ask me though, I'd say the 'do was a just a thinly-veiled attempt to hide her age. It looked alright on her, I guess, but I didn't see why she'd feel like she had to turn back the clock at all. She was in great shape, for one, and she hadn't gotten that ol' withered, leathery look to her yet either. And outside of military situations, she didn't really act her age anyway. She was only what, forty-two, forty-three maybe? Besides, just looking at her, you'd think she had just turned thirty. So, seriously. Come on now.

Kariss stood there, stretching and shaking out her long, powerful arms, no doubt in an effort to stay loose until we started up again. She gave me a slightly disapproving glare. "We've been over this, Marv. We're not in uniform. You can call me 'Lyndi'."

"Uh, yeah. Right. Sorry about that." I took a deep breath, making a conscious attempt to focus this time, and advanced on her cautiously. Feinting a jab, I stepped in and led with a quick, hook-cross-hook combo. Easily dancing away, the commander came back with a vicious flurry of punches, low kicks, and knee strikes. Defending as best as I could, a couple shots still made it through, rocking me all over the training room floor. I scored some hits, too, here and there, but after a few short minutes, it was pretty clear to both of us who was gonna win this one. And I'll give you a hint, folks: It wasn't gonna be me.

Though she didn't have to knock me around very long before I started to get frustrated, so I decided to change things up a bit. Switching up my stance, I tried to draw her out with a few slow, retreating jabs. And like clockwork, she quickly closed, rushing smoothly down and in for a double-leg takedown. Hehehe, too easy, Commander. I dropped back out of range and threw a hard, overhand right aimed for right behind her left ear. Oh, yeah. That's the sweet spot. And after a hit like that, you're goin' down, baby. It don't matter who you are. It's game-over, honey. Lights out, sleepy-time, end of story.

But I guess you started celebrating a little too early, old man. 'Cuz right before my stone cold, knockout punch found its soft, fleshy target, the sneaky lil' witch shifted to her right, setting up a textbook slip-and-push sweep that brought me down fast, **and HARD!** Man, that was quick. And I didn't even have time to see it coming.

Now standing over me, Kariss rested her hands on her hips and grinned. "You okay there, soldier? I didn't hurt you, did I?" she asked sweetly, offering me a slender hand.

Still coughing air back into starving lungs, I raised my head off the flexfoam mat. "No, I'm good," I croaked, waving her off. "Just so happens, I've been wondering what the floor looked like, up close like this." With a considerable effort, I pulled myself up to a sitting position, more than content to just sit there for a few minutes.

Then suddenly, a familiar voice came over the Central Building Intercom System, or CBIS for us lazy people. The voice sounded sweet, yet annoyed as usual. "Agent two-four-two-zero, please report to the Deputy Director's office immediately. Repeat, agent two-four-two-zero to see Col. Maistroff. That means you, Mr. Hartigan. Get going now." Oh, that skraggy, lil' blonde snob. Y'know, I still can't figure out what I did to get her panties in such a knot in the first place.

"You used phrases just like that, I'd imagine," observed Kariss, practically Hutt-slapping me back out of my thoughts.

"What?" I asked, but then I got it. "Oh. That was out-loud, huh?"

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded, fighting a smirk. "It's okay. You get used to her." Then the commander turned, sauntering off toward the showers and grabbing a towel from a wall rack along the way. At the door, she turned back, eyes glittering attractively. "Better hurry, luv," she said in a sultry, teasing lilt, "Shouldn't keep him waiting too long." And with that, she slipped inside the women's locker room with a wink and a mischievous, lil' giggle.

Well, that was weird. What'd she mean by that anyway? Anything, nothing, what? Ahh, put it aside, old man. There's always later. I dragged myself up off the mat and tossed a weary salute in the commander's direction. Then I hit the showers.

Freshly showered and buttoned up to spec, it took me only a few minutes to reach the colonel's office. But since the building designer apparently hated me, I had to pass thru the outer lobby to get there. And that meant I couldn't help but walk past her, Lil' Miss Blondie McSnide herself, on my way.

The receptionist sat there, lurking behind that cold, sterile transparisteel desk, ready to pounce on my ego at the drop of a hat. Yeah, she's just sitting there alright, or for the moment anyway. Seemingly lost in yet another pointless, gossip-ridden holozine. Come on, old man. She hasn't noticed you yet. Now's your chance! But wait, maybe she has, and she's just playing with you, daring you to try it. Yeah, she's messing with you, man, like a predator toying with her prey before she makes him a meal. Well Marv, there's only one way to find out.

Eyes firmly glued to the hallway beyond, I tried to skulk by her unnoticed. Okay, you've made it past the desk. Keep walking, man. Almost to the door. Almost there. One more step, and…No! So close!

Keycard in hand and poised just centimeters from the reader next to the door, the receptionist finally swooped in for the kill. "It's about time, Lieutenant. Did you get lost again? Because I could upload a map to your datapad if that would help," she said in that sweet, mocking voice of hers.

Don't do it, old man. Don't turn around. But I couldn't stop myself. "Hey, now I just…" I started to say, half-turning to face her. But all I saw was the back of a holozine with two small hands poking out, each casually gripping a side. Man, how does she do that? Get under my skin without ever lifting those baby blue's off the freakin' holographic page!

I turned back, both pished at her and frustrated with myself for not coming back with something, anything better than, _'Hey now, uh…yeah, um…hey.'_ The blonde snickered behind her 'zine, victorious once again. The door slid open in front of me, and I heard Blondie chuckle a little as I walked thru it, as if declaring, _'Yep, that's what I thought.'_ Well, that's great, lady. Just twist the vibrodagger a little deeper, why don't ya? Evil, lil' man-hating wench! Sheesh.

Finally, I reached Col. Maistroff's office. But from the moment I walked thru the door, I could tell already he was in a bad, bad mood. 'Course, that's not really saying much. I'd met him all of three times to be honest, and of those, not once had I seen the man smile. Not a grin, a smirk, a throaty chuckle, nothing. You ask me, I'd say the ol' barve had a couple 2-1B droids surgically remove his sense of humor. A condition of his promotion to Deputy Director, no doubt. I mean hey, the NRI had to find somebody to fill Kalenda's shoes after she got herself demoted to Lt. Colonel last year, right? But they sure as hell coulda looked a lot harder. Jeez.

Walking up to his large, yet sparsely cluttered synth-oak desk, I saw the colonel seated behind it, going over some documents on his datapad. He was a short, angry lil' man. A little on the tubby side, balding slightly, with strong features now sagging and tired with middle-age. I heard the guy's a decorated soldier, served in the fight against the Empire when I was just a kid. But he'd been chained to a desk job for years now, and I could tell it'd broken him somewhat. Yeah, once a warrior, now a shadow of his former greatness.

I offered up a rare, crisp salute. Well, rare for me anyways, but hey, it'd be plain stupid to pish off your new boss right before he hands out your first official NRI assignment. So, easy, Marv. Play it cool. "Lieutenant Hartigan reporting as ordered, sir."

The colonel returned the gesture absently, and try as he might, he couldn't hide the bitter, annoyed weariness that hit him every time he had to deal with another pain-in-the-shebs, junior officer that walked thru his door. "Good morning, Lieutenant," he said, giving zero indication for me to park it in that cute, little chair facing his desk. Hey man, don't bother me none. I'm actually starting to like this lil' game of ours. So I stood casually and waited for him to continue. And after clearing his throat real authoritative-like, he did so.

Tiredly glaring me in the eye, the colonel launched headlong into the mission briefing. I had to hand it to the guy though, 'cuz the whole time he was giving me the official rundown, he made sure to keep taking those little breaks now and then to cough, sniff, sigh, or otherwise patronize me in that unspoken, passive-aggressive, military higher-up sorta way. Touché, fatty. Well played, indeed.

I sensed that he was finally getting to the meaty parts, so I tuned back in to catch him saying, "…we've just received word from one of our field operatives in the Inner Core that a member of the Peace Brigade has been taken into custody by the Corellian Security Force and is being held on Corellia in the maximum-security detention center in Coronet City."

The old man paused there, no doubt hoping to get some sorta reaction from me with the mention of trouble on my homeworld. I gave him none, and he continued in a huff. "The NRI has reason to believe that this prisoner commands a small, Peace Brigade cell on that planet. He may also have ties to a dangerous, albeit loosely-regimented, criminal underground which now threatens most of the Core Worlds. But most important to the Agency is that he is also very likely in possession of vital information on the Yuuzhan Vong.

"We **need** that intell. And we need **you** to go and get it. You will be given command of a four-man strike team. You can assemble your own team, or you can use our guys who have been hand-picked, prepped, and specially-trained for the job. But it's your choice," he added that last part with a patronizing chuckle.

He cleared his throat and continued, deadly serious once again. "Infiltrate the Detcenter and extract the prisoner by any means necessary. So long as you get him out of there and back to the safe house for questioning, my boy, that is, without anyone knowing about it, we don't need to know the details. We do need to know what he knows, if anything, and who he reports to. And we need all this yesterday, son, so be quick about it.

"Once you've gotten absolutely everything you can get out of the prisoner, dispose of him as cleanly and quietly as possible. Then you w-"

"Now hang on a second, Colonel! You want me to kill this guy? I'm no executioner, buddy! Un-uh, forget it, no way!"

"Now, you listen here, young man!" Maistroff fired back, unflinching. "This organization deals in matters of the utmost importance to galactic security. As such, we have more enemies than a hotshot, CorSec detective like you could even imagine. That said, if we actually let prisoners go free after we've interrogated them, what do you think they'd do next? Do you honestly believe, for one second, that they wouldn't run straight back to their superiors and blab all about it?"

"Well no, but you could-"

"What? Imprison them?! Ha! I can't even fathom a more blatant, amateurish breach of NRI security protocol. You don't get it, do you, Lieutenant? This isn't a fully-sanctioned, law-enforcement operation with hourly updates on the evening Holonews. This is interstellar espionage!

"Countless lives depend on one thing from us, and that is that we do our

job without anyone…ever…knowing…about it. Now, do you get me, son, or do I have to go over it all again one more time?" Maistroff finished his tirade with an expectant stare, like an angry parent waiting for their kid to nod his ascent. Well, ol' Marv'd hate to disappoint him, but…

"I'm not murdering a prisoner," I said in defiance, and I could tell it was the last thing the old man was expecting to hear. "That just ain't me."

The colonel sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes again with those big, callused hands. Well, that's weird. He was mad before. Shouldn't that last comment have **really** sent him over the edge? "Look, kid," he said, "I'm old, and I'm tired of playing this little machismo-standoff game with young bucks like yourself, so I'll level with you.

"We have many other operatives with more expertise and more time in the field, but I chose you for this mission, and I'll tell you why. This operation is unlike any the NRI has ever encountered before. Its success requires someone with not only first-hand knowledge of the Peace Brigade and the Yuuzhan Vong, but also a solid background in Corellian Security practices and procedures.

"As you can imagine, there are few men who fit that extremely narrow bill. Two, actually. And seeing as a certain Rogue Squadron-vet-turned-Jedi-hooligan has recently got himself blamed for the destruction of Ithor and subsequently exiled, that leaves you, Lieutenant."

"Huh, I guess you're right," I admitted to us both.

"Humph, yes. Now sure, you could decline to lead this operation, but know this, son. Somebody else can and will accomplish the objectives of this mission, one way or another. But regardless of who takes up the reins, they will be going in with insufficient intell which you can bet will most likely result in the death or severe wounding of one or more of your former CorSec associates.

"And as this matter concerns the fate of the entire galaxy, I can live with the loss of a few, good Corellian men and women to ensure its successful execution. If you can live with that, too, Lieutenant, then walk away. If not…"

The old barve just had to play the Homeworld Pride card, now didn't he? "Alright look, I'll do your lil' mission," I said, slapping both hands on his desk and leaning down with a determined stare. "But I'm gonna do it my way. Like it, hate it, I don't really give a kriff. But that's how it's gonna go down, pal."

Maistroff leaned back in his chair with a rolling chuckle. Then he nodded and crossed his arms, a tight grin of satisfaction pulling at the corner of his mouth as he continued, "Good to have you aboard, son. Your transport departs within the hour. Now, head down to Procurement and sign out any equipment you'll need for the job. But leave the big guns. This op needs to stay covert. You get me, kid?"

"Yeah," I said, straightening back up, eyes on the wall behind him.

"And remember," he said, suddenly all-business again. "To pull this thing off, you might have to fire upon some of your former friends and coworkers. I understand if that's a problem for you, and frankly, I don't care. You swore an oath to serve with New Republic Intelligence, remember that. Any prior allegiances you've held up to this point that contradict your current duties to us, you can now consider officially null and void from this moment forward. Clear?"

I nodded slowly, biting back a laundry list of Huttese curses.

"Good. Dismissed."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

 _Yuri Tagawa's apartment, 0327 hrs._

By the time I made it back to Yuri's place, it was already 3:30 Coruscant Standard Time. And my transport was set to skedaddle at 0400 hrs which didn't leave me a whole lot of time to pack and say my goodbyes. Though honestly, I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't sound like an excuse for me skipping out on her in the middle of the night with absolutely zero prior notice.

But hey, she's military, right? She'll understand. Then again, at nineteen she's still just a lovesick kid, and tomorrow you'll be the hardened, old workin' man who left her and broke her heart. Better pray she stays asleep, Marv. It'll be best that way.

I keyed in the entry code, and the door retreated quickly up into its frame. Gingerly, I crossed the threshold, and it slid back down behind me with a gentle whoosh. **Fierfek! Durned door!** A sound so subtle, barely noticeable on any other day, it now bounced off every wall of the small apartment, amplified in stark contrast to the relative silence within. I might as well have just announced my presence with a big, royal Hapan fanfare. Jeez.

I stood there in the entryway a few seconds, waiting just long enough for my eyes to adjust to the near-total darkness of the pilot's sparsely-decorated living quarters. Hey, looks like Yuri left the shades open again. Lucky me. If not for the faint, strobe-like glow coming in thru the large, picture window set in the far wall, it'd be pitch-black in here right now. Then I'd have to turn on a light panel. And that'd wake the poor girl for sure. Humph, saved by the late-night speeder traffic, I guess. Funny that.

I crept down the short hallway, entering the bedchamber as stealthily as possible. Alright now, old man. Don't take too long. Just grab the essentials and get out of here.

I tiptoed around the bed and grabbed my duffel from the closet in the corner. It was packed and ready these days, for occasions just like this. Otherwise, I'd have to root around in the dark all night, and you can guess just how well that'd play out. Not good, buddy. Not good at all. It was times like these that I'd really come to appreciate all that super-cool spy training the NRI drilled into me over and over in the past couple months. Sure comes in handy, I'll tell ya.

Less than half a minute later, I turned around to leave the room. And rounding the bed again to the door, just the sight of Yuri stopped me dead in my tracks. She was sleeping peacefully as always, all curled up on the edge of the bed, her long, red-streaked brown hair spilling every which way on the pillow, that angel face frozen in a look of pure, childish contentment. Sheesh, kid. You really do get prettier every day.

Aww, snap out of it, Marv! What are you thinking anyway? If she wakes up now while you're oogling her like some pansy, lil' Adumari poet, she's gonna start asking questions. And you sure as kriff know you won't have the kind of answers she'll be looking for. Just go, man. It'll be easier for both of you that way, remember?

I stood over Yuri for another half a second, lost in her innocent beauty for what seemed like forever. But eventually, I managed to tear myself away. I had to. There was work to be done. And I couldn't let some iffy, budding wartime romance get in-between me and my duty to the galaxy at large, now could I?

Stepping out of the room finally, I pressed the door panel closed again and took a deep breath. You did it, old man. You did it. So what are you waiting for? A pat on the back? A cookie? A nice, shiny medal? Well, another one, anyway. Aww, get over yourself already. And get moving. Like now'ish.

Feeling sufficiently self-berated, I snuck back up the hall and made a mad, yet silent dash for the exit. And I almost made it there, too, until-

"Marv?" **Sithspawn! Yuri!**

I whipped back around, at least a handful of lies already forming on the tip of my suddenly dry tongue, fully expecting to find her standing there, arms crossed and glaring vibroblades. But there was nobody there. Okay, weird. Am I losing it? Hearing things like a crazy-

"Marv." There it is again! "Over here, you nerfwad." And it's meaner to me than I am. Wait a second now. I scanned the dim lit room, my gaze eventually coming to rest on the flexfoam sofa against the wall, or more importantly, the shadowy figure lying draped across it, wearing that all-too-familiar, sour expression. "Took you long enough. And they call you a spy these days-"

"What do you want, Yumi?" I whispered at her, albeit a little harsher than I intended. But I wasn't worried about her feelings. At the moment, I was furiously considering a slew of new questions. Was she awake since I came in? Is she gonna tell Yuri about this? How many creds will it take to assure her silence? Does she even want money? Is she just torturing me like any twin of the girl I'm dating would? And why is she still just sitting there with that smug grin duraplasted all over her face? Does she want me to beg now? Get real, lady. You'd have to have a whole lot more on me for me to sink to tha-

"Relax, Marv. I don't want anything from you."

"That's what they all say, sweetheart," I answered, ever the paranoid skeptic.

"And I don't plan on telling my sister about this…"

Mind reader. Sheesh.

"…even though it's completely unfair you leaving in the middle of the night and not telling her where you're going and when, or even **if** you're coming back!"

"Uh, it's-"

"Classified. I know. That's why I'm not pressing it." She sat up, deadly serious. "But let's get something straight, you and me."

I checked my chrono, getting more annoyed by the millisecond. "Alright," I sighed. "But make it quick, will ya? I got a transport to catch."

Yumi studied me carefully before continuing semi-predictably, "What are your intentions with my sister?"

Ah, jeez. "Yumi, it's late, well okay, early…Look, haven't we done the whole sibling interrogation thing already? I've been with her, what, three months now? Get off my back," I warned her, aiming a finger at her like it was a custom, thermal-sighted blaster rifle, armed and ready for smokin', deadly business.

"Arrgh! You're not even listening to me! You arrogant, primitive, self-involved Wookie!"

"You comin' onto me, Yum's? 'Cuz I'm flattered 'n all, but-"

"What? Ugh, no! Shut up…" She took a breath. "Look, Yuri likes you, okay? I mean, **really** likes you. Why, I can't even begin to imagine personally, especially with the way you've been treating her-"

"Look honey, are you gonna be getting to some kind of a point here anytime soon? I got things to d-"

"She's pregnant," she said, instantly stealing my thunder in that eerily calm, matter-of-fact Jedi kinda way.

"She's…what?! Is…is it mine?" I stammered.

"No, genius, it's Adm. Ackbar's," she replied, rolling her eyes at me. "Of course it's yours, you laserbrain! You think my sister is some low-life, tail-headed dancing girl? And don't you dare answer that question if you want to keep that durasteel-plated head of yours attached to your shoulders."

I faltered, still reeling in a galaxy suddenly turned upside-down. "Does she…?"

"No, she doesn't know yet. And you can't tell her I told you either. Got it, jerkface?"

"But, when? How?"

"What, you want me to draw you a picture? Ewww!"

"No, that's not what I meant. I just…" I fumbled, searching for the right words.

"Whatever. Look, Marv. You want me to get to the point? Well, here it is. Military relationships are never easy. Hey, sometimes they're downright impossible. You never know how long it'll last. Never know when one's gonna die and leave the other lost and broken, never knowing what happened and never caring why it did in the first place. Their lover's still gone, and nothing can ever bring them back. That's a given when you're fighting a war, especially one as brutal and costly as this one. The stakes, as always, are unimaginably high.

"But you and Yuri, you've got something else, something way more important where the stakes are even higher than they've been or ever could be before. Because now, you two have a kid. An innocent, pure-hearted, defenseless child. And she'll be coming into this world in the middle of a galaxy-wide invasion by insane, pain-worshipping animals all thanks to you and that stupid, selfish, worst-timing-ever sister of mine.

"But that kid will survive. Believe me, I'll make sure of that. I just have to know where you stand. Whether you're gonna stay or you're gonna go, I need to be sure. And if you are gonna leave her, that's fine. I'll understand if it's too much for you to handle. But do it **now** , for both of your sakes. Because if you do it later, it'll just hurt Yuri more. And then you'll really be in trouble, buddy. 'Cuz if you hurt my sister, I'll find you, and there won't be anywhere you can hide to escape my wrath. I don't care if I have to track you halfway across this Force-forsaken universe. You hurt her, and I will hunt you down and take my bloody revenge."

She leaned back, cracked her knuckles, and flashed me that sweet, harmless-little-girl smile. "So, do we have an understanding, Marv?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5.**

 _Back to the present._

 _In the crew quarters of "The Akkaiden" YT-2400, en route to the Yavin System_

 _Yumi._

"There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no pass- Whaaaaah!" I exclaimed, falling instantly out of one of my required, daily Jedi meditations, and at the same time, falling the half meter, butt-first, to the durasteel flooring of the crew cabin. And once again, white-hot spears of pain went stabbing into my tailbone and racing up my spine. By the Force, Yuri! That's the fourth time since we kriffin' left Coruscant!

Launching myself to my feet, I exited the cabin and stormed straight down the corridor towards the cockpit, more than ready this time to roast my stupid twin sister over an Ewok spit! When I reached said cockpit a few seconds later, Yuri glanced casually back over her shoulder at me saying, "Oh, hey sis, I was just feeding the last course change into the navicomp. We should be ready to jump again here in a few."

I just stood there in the hatchway, hands on hips and seething. Ignoring her, I spat back, "Yeah, that's great. But would it kill you to warn me the next time we come out of hyperspace?"

With that, her lips curled upward in a sarcastic grin. "Land your shebs on the deck plates again, Yumi?" she asked, already knowing the answer before she posed the question.

"Yes!" I shouted, trying my hardest not to play into that familiar sisterly teasing game of hers...and failing miserably. "But I wouldn't have if you'd have told me before you pulled that Force-forsaken lever for once!" She turned her pilot's chair around to face me, obviously enjoying my reaction. Ah, space it! I already fell for it. Might as well let her have it. "It's totally inconsiderate! Here I am, busting my butt so I don't get shown up and humiliated by all those Temple brats who're half my age. And you, you're up here jumping this bucket in and out of hyperspace whenever you durn well please without any thought to the safety and peace of mind of the passenger that **you** volunteered to fly out here in the first place!"

As I finished my tirade, I glared at my twin, waiting for her to confess her guilt and apologize already. That smirk was long gone, replaced by a look that was a satisfying mix of shame and defeat. That's right! Feel bad, you uncaring, self-serving witch! Maybe next time you'll think about somebo-

But then the smirk was back, and a teasing chuckle came with it. Yuri brushed off my words with a casual wave of her delicate hand. "Oh, cool it, Yum's," she said, barely able to keep from belly-laughing in my face. "I'm just playing with ya. You should've seen your face though when you came storming in here all 'How dare you pull the breaks again! My butt hurts! Wah, wah, wah!' Ha, ha! That was great."

"Uh-huh. Not funny, sis."

She kept giggling a little longer, but eventually her expression grew more or less sincere. "Okay, I'm sorry," she said. "Long trip. I got bored." I rolled my eyes at that. She went on. "But seriously, you're gonna be fine. Ain't no Younglings gonna make fun of my twin sister. And if they do, I'll shank those Jedi-babies in their sleep. Ah, see? Knew I'd get a smile outta you with that one." And she did, everytime. "Listen Yum's, you have nothing to worry about. You've faced tons of challenges bigger than this one. So those kids'll know more about the Force than you do. Well, some will; some won't. Big deal, right?

"Look, I can't say it'll be easy for you there. But I do know this: My twin sister Yumi? She's a badass. And from what I've seen, there ain't nothing she can't handle."

"Thanks, sis," I said, feeling a little better. "It's just...I still can't help feeling like I shouldn't be going."

"It's just nerves. I told you already."

"I know. I just..." I paused, unable to put my uneasiness into words.

Yuri let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't worry about it, jeez. You'll be fi- Uh, oh. Bogeys incoming. Heading two-seven-zero!" she finished in that urgent, yet calm tone that pilots get when the poodoo's about to hit the air scrubbers.

I checked the sensor screen, switching it from passive to active scanning. "I see 'em," I said, feeling my heart start to race in anticipation of the fight to come. I read the scan results aloud as they came up on the small, red-lit screen in front of me. "About five klicks off and closing fast. Sensors show one, no, seven contacts, one Corvette analog and six starfighters. Transponder codes read Imperial Remnant?"

"Imps out here?!" Yuri asked, unbelieving. "Can't be! I checked the charts twice before I plotted this course!"

"I don't believe it either," I muttered to myself. "But we'll find out soon enough."

I flicked a few switches on the instrument board in front of me, powering up the shields. They really could be Imperials, which wouldn't be a problem since they were just as busy fighting back the Vong as the New Republic these days. But it still smelled like a trap to me, and the sense I was getting through the Force was only confirming my suspicion. I flicked a few more switches, warming up the YT-2400's weapon systems, too. Better to be ready, I say.

Yuri pulled the ship around to face them, and I noticed her hands flex nervously on the control yoke as we waited for the blips on the sensors to close the distance for visual contact. Slowly, but surely, they came. As they got closer, I could almost certainly make out seven Imperial ships, but I still wasn't convinced.

My twin shook her head at the oncoming "Imp" ships. "Doesn't feel right," she said, voicing my own "bad feeling" about the current situation. "We should get out of here."

"Can't, sis. We're totally outnumbered," I replied, trying my best to keep the fear out of my voice, and failing miserably. "They'd space us for sure." I glanced quickly at the navicomputer. "Can we jump?"

"Un-huh. We're still in the mass shadow of that durned, uninhabited rock below us," she said, sounding frustrated, but I could tell underneath Yuri was starting to get just as scared as me. She confirmed that by insisting again, "I'm telling you, Yumi. We have to make a break for it. Now!"

I weighed our options. Option A, we run and most likely get vaped or immobilized almost immediately. Yuri's a great pilot, I should know. But we'd be trying to evade six smaller and more maneuverable craft for the Force knows how long until we finally cleared the gravity well so we could jump to hyperspace. Not to mention the fact I'd bet that Corvette had at least one tractor beam. My sister was good, sure. I doubted she was **that** good.

Option B, we send out a distress signal on the long-range comm and try to stick it out and fight these guys off until help arrives, if in fact, it ever does. I liked that idea even less than trying to run for it. Besides, the Imps'd just jam us anyway, and on the off chance they didn't or couldn't, there'd be no telling who we'd reach or how long it'd take them to get here. Nope, scratch that plan completely.

We could always try to run for 'that durned, uninhabited rock below us,' but no, 'cuz again we'd get vaped or captured before we made it. And if, by some miracle of the Force, we did make it down to that overgrown asteroid and managed to hide from our pursuers, they'd just set up a search pattern and find us eventually.

Every new way I looked at it, Yuri and me still ended up dead or worse. It wasn't fair, stang it! I never even wanted to go to the Jedi Academy in the first place! Now, not only was I in deep Sith yet again, I had to go and drag my dumb, helpful twin sister and her jerkwad boyfriend's brand-new starship into it, too. Bad luck again, Yumi. Why does this keep happening to me?

The comm station beeped loudly with an incoming signal, saving me from self-pity, well, for the moment, at least. I punched the speaker button with a sigh, and a crisp, serious-sounding voice crackled out to bounce off the walls of the tiny cockpit. "Unidentified freighter, this is Capt. Rav Selkin of the Imperial Remnant Light Corvette, Merciless. You are trespassing in Imperial Space. Identify yourselves and prepare to be boarded."

"Oh, crap," I said. "Power it down, Yuri." My sister glared at me for a long moment, refusing to give in. I glared right back at her. "I know this sucks, sis. But they can blow us to space dust if we refuse. Look, they're not the enemy anymore, and we have nothing to hide. Let's just submit to their stupid identichip scan and get to Yavin already."

Yuri crossed her arms and set her jaw firmly, leaning back away from her console so she could really stare me down. "No," she said sharply. "They're still Imps. I'll never trust 'em."

And I knew exactly why. Back when we were little, our homeworld of Abregado-rae had just been liberated from the Empire's control thanks to the by-then, already well-established, New Republic government. But that didn't sit well with Taric Jelsun, a disgusting, Hutt-slime of an ex-Moff turned Imperial Warlord. See, Abregado-rae has always been known as a key manufacturing planet all throughout the Core, and because of that fact, it has always been a highly sought-after resource for whatever burgeoning galactic conqueror that happened to come across it. Basically, if you wanted to start your own personal empire, you needed the ships to do it. So naturally, that meant your first step was to capture the unmatched engineering capabilities of the Abregado Shipyards. Well, Warlord Jelsun did just that.

Only a matter of weeks after our so-called "liberation", Jelsun's taskforce moved in to occupy the system, and they hit the shipyards hard and fast. Just so happened that me and Yuri's father, Tamchi Tagawa, was an electrician that had been working there eight years. As the TIE-bombers started strafing the orbital station, he was killed when a blast punctured the airlock he was installing on some generic cargo freighter, instantly sucking him out into cold, unforgiving vacuum. He was wearing a vac suit at the time, but the explosion caused a small leak to open in the right knee joint. Our father died after being forced to endure several minutes of agonizing cold and gradual suffocation.

We were four at the time. Too young to really know our daddy, but old enough to know we had one, and know that now, he was gone, and he was never coming back. Me and Yuri took it hard, of course, crying endlessly for weeks, always just wanting to know **why** it'd happened. Our mother, Lyla, took it harder. After daddy died, she turned to drugs and eventually killed herself. Looking back, I guess mom just couldn't take the pain anymore. Selfish kathhound.

Anyway, after that we got shuffled around from orphanage to orphanage and one foster home after another. All we ever really had was each other from that point on, and me and my sister have stuck together ever since. But we never forgot what happened to our parents, and we hated the Empire for taking them away from us. I've come to terms with it somewhat since the end of the Galactic Civil War. But Yuri never could. I couldn't really say I blamed her for it though.

But now the Empire wasn't what it once was. It never would be again either if the Yuuzhan Vong had anything to say about it, as I'm sure they did. And now, at this moment, was a terrible time to hold white-knuckled onto a stupid, old grudge. Our situation was desperate, and I needed my twin's cooperation if we were gonna have a shred of hope in surviving it at all. I had a plan, but I knew that Yuri'd never go along with it willingly. I had to make her do it. I didn't want to, but she really left me no other choice.

I looked at her thru half-lidded eyes, concentrating on allowing the Force to enhance the persuasion in my words. " _Yuri, power the ship down now. We must allow the Imperials to board,_ " I commanded my twin in a calm, yet firm voice.

She looked puzzled for half a second, but then her hazel eyes glazed over, and she replied in a slow, monotone voice, "Power the ship down. Allow the Imperials to board."

I knew my Force Suggestion would work. Lowan had told me over and over before he turned my training over to the Praxeum that the minds of those closest to you would always be the easiest ones to influence. And it had worked just as easily with Yuri before during our exhausting escape from the Vong worldship a few months back. But I still hated to do that to her, even if it did save our skins in the process. I just hoped it was worth the intrusion into my twin's consciousness. All there was to do now was to trust in the Force and wait.


End file.
